This advanced course delivers an understanding of Embedded Systems and Internet of Things (ES-IoT) and their enabling technologies. Our Embedded Systems and the Internet of Things (IoT) course is industry-focused.

It is tailored to meet the demands of companies that create mobile electronic equipment, which interfaces with wireless networks and applications.

Taught by world-leading academics and researchers, you'll develop your knowledge of electrical and electronic engineering. You'll focus on the fast-changing area of embedded digital systems for communication and control.

Our MSc programme is ideal for graduates in :

electrical and electronic engineering
computer engineering
related disciplines

You'll develop your knowledge and practical skills through a unique blend of modules which complement each other:

tools, techniques and design of Embedded Systems and Internet of Things (ES-IoT) and subsystems
scientific and engineering principles and practices of Computing Science and Electronic Engineering
networking and communication systems
sensors and security
machine learning and computer programming

How to apply

Quality and ranking

Global Top 140 UniversityQS World University Rankings 2026
Top 145 for Engineering and TechnologyQS World University Rankings by Subject 2025
Top 25 in the UK and Top 200 in the world for sustainable developmentTimes Higher Education Impact Rankings 2025
42% of our research is classified as 4* world-leading researchResearch Excellence Framework 2021
65% increase in research power since 2014Research Excellence Framework 2021
Global Top 145 UniversityTimes Higher Education World University Rankings 2026
Joint 64th in the world and 22nd in the UK for sustainabilityQS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2026
Top 170 for Computing Science and Information SystemsQS World University Rankings by Subject 2025
Top 5 city for affordability in the UKQS Best Student Cities 2026
World Top 50 and UK Top 5 student cityQS Best Student Cities 2026
89th in the worldTIME Magazine: World’s Top Universities 2026

Professional accreditation and recognition

Engineering Council

This course is professionally accredited by the Engineering Council.The accreditation ensures you receive a good foundation for professional registration. The Engineering Council is the UK regulatory body for the engineering profession. It sets and maintains the internationally recognised standards of professional competence and ethics that govern and award and retention of these titles.

The accreditation gives you an additional benchmark of quality to your degree, making you more attractive to graduate employers. It can also open the door to higher-level jobs, most of which require Chartered Engineer status.

Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

This course is professionally accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). The accreditation ensures you receive a good foundation for professional registration. IET is one of the world's largest engineering and technology institutions. It is a global diverse home for over 168,000 engineering and technology professionals in 150 countries. It provides support at every stage of your career.

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

If you’re studying an accredited degree and thinking about working in Europe after you graduate, the best place to find current information is the UK Government’s guidance on recognition of UK professional qualifications in EU member states. This official resource explains whether your profession is regulated in another country, what steps you need to take, and which organisation you should contact.

Next: Course details

What you'll learn

You'll learn core skills in:

design and analysis of a real-time application
skills in implementation of M2M networks
analyse and plan telecommunications systems
networking for computers, embedded devices or sensors
low-power embedded computers, programming, interfaces and reconfigurable hardware platform
machine learning model training and applications
problem-solving, project planning, critical analysis and progress assessment
teamwork

Our modules have been designed alongside industry experts, meaning you'll gain the technical knowledge and skills needed for this dynamic industry.

Modules

You will study modules on this course. A module is a unit of a course with its own approved aims and outcomes and assessment methods.

Embedded Systems and Internet of Things (ES-IoT) MSc modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Real Time Embedded Systems	20
Reconfigurable Hardware Design	20
M2M Technology Internet of Things	20
Individual Project	60
Communication Networks and Security	20
Machine Learning for Engineering Applications	20
Research Skills and Development for Engineers	20

How you'll learn

Delivery and teaching methods

We have a multidisciplinary approach to teaching and you'll engage with students across all key electrical and electronic engineering disciplines. This offers a rich and diverse learning experience.

Our teaching consists of:

lectures
tutorials
seminars
practical lab sessions
research-led projects
group work
laboratory work
computing workshops
personal supervision

You'll have the opportunity to carry out research and development projects using state-of-the-art facilities, and work alongside active collaborations between the University and industry.

Modules are taught by block delivery, allowing you to immerse yourself and understand the subject in more depth.

Assessment methods

Depending on your modules, you'll be assessed through a combination of:

Computer assessment
Oral examination
Oral presentation
Report
Written examination
Written exercise

Additional assessment information

Assessment is by written examination at the end of each semester, coursework, and a project and dissertation conducted in association with one of the School's research groups.

MSc Project and Dissertation in Embedded Systems (Individual Project)

The School of Engineering has an international reputation for transformative engineering and technology research. You'll have the opportunity to be part of this research and development, particularly during your individual project.

You'll choose the topic of your research project, supported by our expertise. You'll combine the skills, knowledge and understanding gained from the modules you've undertaken and develop your research skills on a relevant topic.

Our innovative educational techniques will give you practical design skills and research methodologies.

You'll have the ability to:

formulate planning and organisational strategies
review and summarise relevant technical papers, reports etc
ability to critique different techniques and strategies
identify relevant/irrelevant material related to MSc studies

Examples of projects have included:

IoT System for Oil Refineries
M2M IoT Parking Management System
Stochastic Physical Unclonable Function Implementation with SRAM

Student support

Throughout your studies, you’ll have access to support from:

academic staff
personal tutors and research supervisors
our University Student Services Team
student representatives
peers

You'll also be assigned an academic member of staff, who will be your personal tutor throughout your time with us. They can help with academic and personal issues.

Your teaching and learning is also supported by Canvas. Canvas is a Virtual Learning Environment. You'll use Canvas to submit your assignments and access your:

module handbooks
course materials
groups
course announcements and notifications
written feedback

Our staff

Professor Rishad Shafik

Professor of Microelectronic Systems

Areas of expertise:

energy-driven circuits and systems design
machine learning systems
low-power design
adaptive many-core systems
energy-efficient artificial intelligence
approximate computing systems design
software/hardware co-design

Professor Patrick Degenaar

Professor of Neuroprosthetics

Areas of expertise:

visual prosthesis
epilepsy prosthesis
optogenetic neuroprosthetics
neuro-biophysical models
neural control systems
implantable microelectronic probes

Dr Kabita Adhikari

Senior Lecturer in Signal Processing and Machine Learning

Areas of expertise:

machine learning and AI for predicting disease prevalence, recurrence and survival
intelligent signal processing for biomedical data
machine learning for complex medical data modelling
machine learning for financial risk modelling

Dr Shahzad Gishkori

Lecturer in Signal and Image Processing/AI

Areas of expertise:

machine/deep learning-based radar imaging
enhanced automotive radar imaging for autonomous driving
compressive sampling for wireless communications

Dr Jingjing Zhang

Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence

Areas of expertise:

AI and machine learning for digital healthcare
data analysis and signal processing

Dr Matthew Dyson

Lecturer

Areas of expertise:

upper limb prosthetics
biosignal processing

Dr Alex Bystrov

Areas of expertise:

low-power design, interconnect protocols, interfaces and synchronisation
electronics for security applications, physical unclonable functions, resilience to side-channel attacks
embedded systems and Internet of Things

Dr Domenico Balsamo

Senior Lecturer in Microsystems Design

Areas of expertise:

sustaining computation during intermittent supply
graceful performance modulation for power-neutral energy harvesting devices
HW/SW design of high-performance and low-power embedded systems
design of wireless sensor networks for monitoring environmental conditions
energy efficiency in historical building
smart-energy harvesting systems for non-intrusive load-monitoring and energy metering

Dr Nick Coleman

Lecturer

Areas of expertise:

design of faster processors: general purpose microprocessors, or special-purpose devices for applications such as DSP and graphics
development of the European Logarithmic Microprocessor

Philip Robinson Library (Student Texts Collection)

Your development

You will:

understand concepts and theory of embedded design, real-time scheduling, concurrent models, interfaces and real-time interfaces (ACM)
gain knowledge in IoT M2M network technology including networking, system frameworks and comparative study and skills in implementation of M2M networks
understand advanced topics in wired and wireless communications networks and security, their evolution and impacts on modern society
gain skills and practical experience of wireless networking for computers, embedded devices or sensors
acquire the knowledge and the ability to apply the hardware and software knowledge for the design of general and application-specific embedded systems
gain knowledge, skills and design experience on reconfigurable hardware platforms (FPGA chips)*
analyse the underlying mathematics of imaging algorithms, their implementation and performance. Also understand the global standards of multimedia – eg JPEG, MPEG and H26 series

In addition, you apply your engineering and computing expertise to investigate a complex problem as part of the Individual Project module during semester 2 and 3.

Course information: Disclaimers, policies and changes

Previous: Overview Next: Entry requirements

Entry requirements

The entrance requirements below apply to 2026 entry.

Academic entry requirements

A 2:2 BEng honours degree, or international equivalent, in:

electrical and electronic engineering
computer engineering
mechanical engineering
physics
communications, information and control engineering
a related subject

Qualifications from outside the UK

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English Language requirements

Select your qualification IELTSPearsonsDuolingo English TestTOEFLOtherPre-Sessional Entry - 6 weeksPre-Sessional Entry - 10 weeks

Previous: Course details Next: Careers

Your future

Industry links

Due to our close industry links, you'll engage and network with key engineering companies as part of an enhanced learning journey. You'll be taught directly by industry, learning the key technical skills required in the sector.

You'll benefit from:

guest lectures, allowing you to put theory into practice
study tours
site visits
projects
placements
employment opportunities with added support from our Careers Service

Our Careers Service

Our expert Careers Service is here to help you take the next steps in your professional life. We will support you while you’re studying with us and for up to three years after you graduate.\ \ You will have access to expert one-to-one advice and guidance through our campus careers centre and online, along with digital resources, workshops, networking opportunities, and careers and recruitment events.\ \ We’ve been awarded 5 QS Stars for Student Employability (2025). Many of our degrees are shaped by strong links with national and international businesses. We are committed to helping you access real-world experience opportunities and develop key skills through paid work placements and internships.

Visit our Careers Service website

Previous: Entry requirements Next: Facilities

Facilities

The School of Engineering has large, modern teaching laboratories providing superb learning opportunities for you, the next generation of technology and computing specialists.

You'll have access to a range of specialist facilities. Each research group in the school has dedicated equipment and laboratories, including:

Power Electronics, Drives and Machines Lab
Computer Aided Design (CAD) Lab
Electronics Teaching Lab

Stephenson Building

The Stephenson Building is a £110 million investment in world-class education, research and collaboration across Engineering. It’s a place for future engineers, researchers and designers to collaborate and tackle global challenges, together.

Previous: Careers Next: Fees & funding

Fees, Funding and Scholarships

Tuition fees for 2026 entry (per year)

Qualification: MSc Full time
Home students Full time: 12 months	Tuition fees (per year) £13,900
International students Full time: 12 months	Tuition fees (per year) £30,050

Tuition fee increases

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals - tuition fee status

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support. You may be eligible for a scholarship worth 25% off the international fee. Search our funding database.

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our searchable postgraduate funding page for more information.

What you're paying for

Tuition fees include the costs of:

matriculation
registration
tuition (or supervision)
library access
examination
re-examination
graduation

Find out more about:

Deposit

If you are an international student or a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland and you need a visa to study in the UK, you may have to pay a deposit.

You can check this in the How to apply section.

Funding deadlines

If you're applying for funding, always check the funding application deadline. This deadline may be earlier than the application deadline for your course.

For some funding schemes, you need to have received an offer of a place on a course before you can apply for the funding.

Search for funding and scholarships

Find funding available for your course

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Previous: Facilities Next: How to apply

How to apply

Before you start

Start Dates

The course starts in September.

Closing Dates

There is no application closing date for this course.

We suggest international students apply at least two months before the course starts. This is so that you have enough time to make the necessary arrangements.

Deposit

All International students

If you are an international student or a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland and you need a visa to study in the UK, you must pay a deposit or submit an official letter of sponsorship. The deposit is payable after you receive an offer to study with us. This deposit is non-refundable and will be deducted from your tuition fees when you register. You may also be subject to academic and English language qualification verification, confirmation of funds and credibility interviews.

International students who received an offer before 18 March 2026

You are required to pay a £1,500 deposit or submit an official letter of sponsorship.

International students Bangladesh, Ghana, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan who received an offer after 18 March 2026

You are required to pay a deposit of £5,000 or submit an official letter of sponsorship by 01 August 2026.

All International students (excluding those from the markets above) who received an offer after 18 March 2026

You are required to pay a deposit of £1,500 or submit an official letter of sponsorship by 01 August 2026.

Programme codes

Qualification: MSc Full time
Full time: 12 months	Programme Code: 5134F

Using the application portal

The application portal has instructions to guide you through your application. It will tell you what documents you need and how to upload them.

You can choose to start your application, save your details and come back to complete it later.

If you’re ready, you can select Apply Online and you’ll be taken directly to the application portal.

Alternatively you can find out more about applying on our applications and offers pages.

\ Apply Online

Previous: Fees & funding Next: Get in touch

Open days and events

Find out about how you can visit Newcastle in person and virtually

Overseas events

We regularly travel overseas to meet with students interested in studying at Newcastle University.

Visit our events calendar for the latest events

Get in touch

Questions about this course?

If you have specific questions about this course you can contact:

School of Engineering\ School Admissions Team\ Email: soe.admissions@ncl.ac.uk

General enquiries

For more general enquiries, you could also complete our online enquiry form.

Fill in our enquiry form

Application enquiries

If you've got a question about your application, send us an enquiry via the application portal you applied through.

If you haven't applied yet, you can send your questions via our enquiry form.

Fill in our enquiry form

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You'll find our Ncl chatbot in the bottom right of this page.

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Embedded Systems and Internet of Things (ES-IoT) MSc

Overview

Quality and ranking

Professional accreditation and recognition

What you'll learn

Modules

How you'll learn

Your development

Entry requirements

Academic entry requirements

Qualifications from outside the UK

English Language requirements

Your future

Industry links

Our Careers Service

Facilities

Stephenson Building

Fees, Funding and Scholarships

Tuition fees for 2026 entry (per year)

Scholarships

What you're paying for

Search for funding and scholarships

How to apply

Before you start

Programme codes

Using the application portal

Open days and events

Overseas events

Get in touch

Questions about this course?

General enquiries

Application enquiries

Live chat

Chat to our students

Keep updated

Social Media